Crane collapse forces Sail Amsterdam ships to detour

The crane collapse in Alphen aan den Rijn early this month has resulted in almost 60 old ships heading towards Sail Amsterdam having to change their routes. The ships - known as the sailing heritage - intended to sail via Alphen and Leiden to IJmuiden, where they would join the tall ships for the parade to Amsterdam, NOS reports. But due to the crane accident involving the Juliana Bridge in Alphen aan den Rijn, this route is inaccessible. The old ships will now have to make a detour through the North Sea and inland to IJmuiden. The sailing heritage consists of old Dutch barges, tugs and fishing boats. During Sail some of them will be on display between the tall ships and others will be used to sail guests around the port of Amsterdam. Sail Amsterdam starts on Wednesday and will be on until Tuesday next week. Some of the tall ships that will be on display during the event departed from Bremerhaven in northern Germany on Sunday, NU reports. These ships are expected to arrive in IJmuiden on Tuesday. A number of the participating ships are already waiting in the port of IJmuiden. The ANWB expects a lot of traffic on the roads between Amsterdam and IJmuiden on Wednesday, when participating ships will sail on parade through the North Sea Canal. The traffic service advise those who are coming to watch the armada of sailing ships in the capital to rather travel to Amsterdam using public transport.